Keyboard resource conflict driving me MAD!

Minus all the sketchy details of how it got this way, here is what is happening:

It's a laptop, Compaq Presario.
The keyboard driver has somehow decided to use the SAME I/O addresses (2 of them) as the PS/2 touchpad. XP does not seem to give you ANY way to change resource allocation for keyboard/mouse.

SO, the touchpad does work when XP first comes up, I can use the mouse. But keyboard does NOT. If I press ANY key on the keyboard, it immediately locks up the mouse as well, then I have no control at all. Though I CAN use a USB mouse. I CANNOT use a USB keyboard.

So I have to work on this with ONLY mouse control!

I've managed to hack out the keyboard from the registry, and delete the keyboard INF and system files. I've managed to transfer the Compaq Easy Access keyboard and new touchpad drivers from their web site. And installed those.
But after everything I try, now Device Manager shows the keyboard as "Compaq Easy Access Button Keyboard", it is still using wrong resources. But before it was loading as gernic 102 key keyboard or whatever.

After some searching on Google, I can't seem to find out HOW to make the keyboard and/or mouse change their I/O addresses. And especially when I don't have any keyboard control, I can't type commands or do "searches" and so forth.

I'm hoping someone out there has any idea where I could, with mouse only, change the resources, or hack something out of the registry. Because the only thing I can think of at this point is a repair install. And no telling if that would fix the issue or not.

Hmm, yes I can get the on-screen keyboard to work. But I finally ended up doing a repair install and thankfully, that fixed the driver issue. Because now the keyboard is using the two I/O address, and the mouse isn't using any, only an IRQ. However the keyboard still didn't work.
Though it did work on the Welcome screen, and it also worked during setup, like to type the keycode etc...

After you mentioned the accessibility tools, I went looking through them and noticed one option set, for detecting double clicks and accidental clicks or something like that. When I took that option off, the keyboard came back to life!

So in any case, it took a repair install to fix the driver, and changing the setting to fix keyboard access.

Minus all the sketchy details of how it got this way, here is what is happening:

It's a laptop, Compaq Presario.
The keyboard driver has somehow decided to use the SAME I/O addresses (2 of them) as the PS/2 touchpad. XP does not seem to give you ANY way to change resource allocation for keyboard/mouse.

SO, the touchpad does work when XP first comes up, I can use the mouse. But keyboard does NOT. If I press ANY key on the keyboard, it immediately locks up the mouse as well, then I have no control at all. Though I CAN use a USB mouse. I CANNOT use a USB keyboard.

So I have to work on this with ONLY mouse control!

I've managed to hack out the keyboard from the registry, and delete the keyboard INF and system files. I've managed to transfer the Compaq Easy Access keyboard and new touchpad drivers from their web site. And installed those.
But after everything I try, now Device Manager shows the keyboard as "Compaq Easy Access Button Keyboard", it is still using wrong resources. But before it was loading as gernic 102 key keyboard or whatever.

After some searching on Google, I can't seem to find out HOW to make the keyboard and/or mouse change their I/O addresses. And especially when I don't have any keyboard control, I can't type commands or do "searches" and so forth.

I'm hoping someone out there has any idea where I could, with mouse only, change the resources, or hack something out of the registry. Because the only thing I can think of at this point is a repair install. And no telling if that would fix the issue or not.

Thanks

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im having the same problem with my desktop. my mouse works fine, but as soon as i connect the keyboard both freeze. the keyboard itself is obviousloy OK since a brand new one gave the same problems. can you advise what you did to fix it?

You say "as soon as I connect the keyboard, both freeze". Does that mean you are plugging in the keyboard when Windows is already running? Is it a USB keyboard? Or by plugging it in do you mean pressing a key?
The difference is important because you can NOT plug your PS/2 keyboard in while the system is on. You need to turn it OFF and then plug in the PS/2 keyboard.

If you DO have a PS/2 keyboard (the kind with the small round connector, same as the mouse), then try getting a USB keyboard to use. Because it is not to rare that the PS/2 port itself died, and thus freezes everything up when plugged in. I've come across this many times. If the port is dead, the motherboard needs replaced. Otherwise use a USB keyboard/mouse if necessary.

If we ARE talking about a USB keyboard, then obvioulsy your usb driver, or keyboard driver is bad. In which case it can get tricky trying to replace them, with no keyboard access.
One test you can try is to boot off a floppy disk or something, anything, and see if you have keyboard access from a DOS prompt. You can't do this with USB k/b unless the BIOS supports USB keyboard, or "legacy usb support" I think it's called.

Then last of all, if you know the keyboard is fine, if you know the keyboard port is fine, or if you know your USB is all fine; if you know this MUST be an XP issue for SURE, then try a repair install of Windows.

You say "as soon as I connect the keyboard, both freeze". Does that mean you are plugging in the keyboard when Windows is already running? Is it a USB keyboard? Or by plugging it in do you mean pressing a key?
The difference is important because you can NOT plug your PS/2 keyboard in while the system is on. You need to turn it OFF and then plug in the PS/2 keyboard.

If you DO have a PS/2 keyboard (the kind with the small round connector, same as the mouse), then try getting a USB keyboard to use. Because it is not to rare that the PS/2 port itself died, and thus freezes everything up when plugged in. I've come across this many times. If the port is dead, the motherboard needs replaced. Otherwise use a USB keyboard/mouse if necessary.

If we ARE talking about a USB keyboard, then obvioulsy your usb driver, or keyboard driver is bad. In which case it can get tricky trying to replace them, with no keyboard access.
One test you can try is to boot off a floppy disk or something, anything, and see if you have keyboard access from a DOS prompt. You can't do this with USB k/b unless the BIOS supports USB keyboard, or "legacy usb support" I think it's called.

Then last of all, if you know the keyboard is fine, if you know the keyboard port is fine, or if you know your USB is all fine; if you know this MUST be an XP issue for SURE, then try a repair install of Windows.

good luck, or post back here with some more details.

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wassup man.

thanks for the detailed reply! let me address the issues you brought up:

ive bought two brand new keyboards. one was a ps/2 and more recently i bought a usb one just to test that too. doesnt work. now i did goto device manager and noticed a conflict with the keyboard (when I was using the ps/2). the first time i must've uninstalled it but it somehow got installed again. i think i did this a few times and at one point i just erased it. now after this (maybe as a direct result, maybe not) i was able to go into windows with my ps/2 keyboard physically connected and my mouse would still work. earlier on if the keyboard was even connected the mouse wouldnt wokr. now if they keyboard is connected its not a problem. the keyboard itself wouldnt work bnut the mouse was just fine. HOWever, as soon as i touch any key on the keyboard the mouse would stop working. the computer itself doesnt freeze, the screen saver still comes on and if i put a cd in it'll respond. but these two devices seem to freeze.

now with the usb keyboard, again i know it works because i can go into the bios by pressing delete when i boot up, and can press f7 (or is it f8) to go into safe mode. however once im in windows it wont work. the difference here is pressing a key on this wont freeze the mouse. but the keyboard wont work. if im in windows with the usb keyboard and normal mouse and i disconnect the usb keyboard and then plug in the ps2 keyboard the mouse will instantly freeze (even without touching a button on the ps/2 KB).

it doesnt work in safe mode either.

im not at my comptuer right now so cant say for sure, but even when i was using the usb keyboard i think i saw a conflict in device manager. that was a while ago. i musta deleted that too.

yesterday i saw a suggestion from someone to uninstall the mouse from device manager. i went there (not keyboard was mentioned in Dev Mgr) and uninstalled that too, then i rebooted and again when the keyboard button was pressed the mouse would stop working, but if i didnt touch it everythign was OK.

btw you asked earlier do i plug in the keyboard when windows is already running or before it loads up. ive done both. if i plug it in while win is running, the kb and mouse freeze, if its plugged in from the beginning then theres no problem until i press a button on the keyboard.

For one thing you do NOT want to be plugging in and out the PS/2 keyboard while the system is on. It was never designed for that and I can see why it would instantly freeze them both. So avoid that.

But this almost sounds like your PS/2 keyboard port just plain went bad. I've had that happen maybe 2 or 3 times in the past. If you can get by with just a PS/2 mouse and USB keyboard, then that is it. Hopefully you can remove the old PS/2 keyboard driver once it is not plugged in anymore.
If you have JUST the mouse and usb plugged in, is there any conflicts with those? Once the ps/2 k/b driver is gone?
I wouldn't rule out a dead port. In my scenario what usually happens is Windows just won't see the ps/2 plugged in. But in one case it did what yours is doing and just has a screwed up driver thing going on.

See if you can get the usb and mouse working with ps/2 kb unplugged. Then remove the ps/2 kb driver so it doesn't cause issue. If that config works, you may have to stay that way.

For one thing you do NOT want to be plugging in and out the PS/2 keyboard while the system is on. It was never designed for that and I can see why it would instantly freeze them both. So avoid that.

But this almost sounds like your PS/2 keyboard port just plain went bad. I've had that happen maybe 2 or 3 times in the past. If you can get by with just a PS/2 mouse and USB keyboard, then that is it. Hopefully you can remove the old PS/2 keyboard driver once it is not plugged in anymore.
If you have JUST the mouse and usb plugged in, is there any conflicts with those? Once the ps/2 k/b driver is gone?
I wouldn't rule out a dead port. In my scenario what usually happens is Windows just won't see the ps/2 plugged in. But in one case it did what yours is doing and just has a screwed up driver thing going on.

See if you can get the usb and mouse working with ps/2 kb unplugged. Then remove the ps/2 kb driver so it doesn't cause issue. If that config works, you may have to stay that way.

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what you say makes some sense. but i also see some questions with it.

you're suggesting my ps/2 socket is bad from what i understand? could be, and others have said so too. the only reason i have doubts about that is because when i boot up the computer im able to press delete to go into the bios (and when im in there i have full functionality). im also able to press f8 to goto safe mode. so it appears to me the ps2 keyboards and the socket are fine. what do you think?

the usb keyboard doesnt work with the mouse, except in the same circumstances, ie to go into the bios etc. now let me just say this didnt occur to me earlier but perhaps its not properly isntyalled? i got a CD with it that i assumed was an install disk (but maybe it wasnt?) and the contents on it werent relevant to the installation. i figured they made a mistake? but either way, a usb keyboard should be plug and play no? the company is dynex, and i think Windows has all the drivers built in. anyway the USB kb works in the bios etc, everywhere until windows starts. then probs occur.

you're suggesting my ps/2 socket is bad from what i understand? could be, and others have said so too. the only reason i have doubts about that is because when i boot up the computer im able to press delete to go into the bios (and when im in there i have full functionality). im also able to press f8 to goto safe mode. so it appears to me the ps2 keyboards and the socket are fine. what do you think?

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I wasn't sure, I thought you were saying you could do those things only with the USB. But if you can do them with PS/2 as well, that can mean something. But then again, you aren't using the mouse at the same time when outside of Windows. So there is that to think about, there is no mouse driver loaded, so the keyboard would have the ps/2 all to itself. In Windows, it has to share with the mouse. That is where the conflict comes in between the two.
There is still a chance the ps/2 is bad, but less of a chance if the usb exhibits the same behavior all the way around.

You should not require a driver for the USB keyboard, Windows will load generic drivers.

I suppose you could at least try to delete the kb drivers and download them again off the XP CD or from another PC. The two generic 102 key keyboard drivers are:system32\drivers\i8042prt.sys
system32\drivers\kbdclass.sys

If you can figure out a way to replace those two files, do it. And see what happens.

> There is still a chance the ps/2 is bad, but less of a chance if the usb exhibits > the same behavior all the way around.

It appears to me chances of the ps/2 keyboard being bad is slim to nil. These problems started occurring when I was using my wireless keyboard (which I've used for a year). For some reason it stopped working and when I called up customer service we ran some diagnostics at which point the person said it seems the keyboard is bad. (The receiver for the wireless was also using the ps/2 socket btw). Then I dug out my old ps/2 keyboard, which would just freeze everything. Then I bought a new keyboard (a cheapie from walmart) which would give the same problem. And THEN, I went and bought the USB K/B. So it does appear to me that the KBs are fine and theres some internal software conflict. what do you think?

BTW when I was on the wireless keyboard, although it wasnt working it never caused the mouse to stop working. I dont know if it would have worked at the startup to go into the bios, i never tried, but i personally doubt it because i think the signal just wasnt going thru the receiver for some reason. it may or may not be related. but anyway thats past now.

The only reason the ps/2 would have gone bad at this point is by plugging and unplugging the ps/2 while the system was on. But hopefully not, as it still works outside of Windows.

Assuming the ps/2 is fine, it must be a driver issue. You say all problems are the same in Safe Mode?
I would still try to replace those keyboard drivers I mentioned. You can also view the driver details of the usb keyboard and try to replace those as well.
Lets not rule out the mouse too. Even though it works, it may in fact be the mouse that is conflicting, and stealing from the keyboard. But at this point it would be pretty hard to remove the mouse! At least check the resource usage for both kb and mouse and compare.

I suppose you could at least try to delete the kb drivers and download them again off the XP CD or from another PC. The two generic 102 key keyboard drivers are:system32\drivers\i8042prt.sys
system32\drivers\kbdclass.sys

If you can figure out a way to replace those two files, do it. And see what happens.

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actually i think I may have already done this. I'll double check the names but I replaced two files for the keyboard a few days back.

Can you tell me how to do a quick reply btw? When I click on it it says click on one of the options in the posts above, i dont quite know what that means. which options?

First off, for the quick reply, click the icon within the post itself, this is the little paper and pensil icon right next to the "Quote" button. Click that and it will make the Quick Reply text box active. You can then type a message and click Post Quick Reply.

As for checking resources. With your mouse, right click My Computer-Properties. Then Hardware tab. Then Device Manager. Find the keyboard and mouse headings, then double click the device under those categories. This will open the properties page. Then there should be a Resources tab within that. Basically just make sure the addresses, IRQ, whatever are not equal. But Device Manager should tell you if there is a conflict.

As a reference, here is the info on my own keyboard driver:

kbdclass.sys
Version 5.1.2600.1106
size 23,424 bytes

i8042prt.sys
Version 5.1.2600.1106
size 51,072 bytes

This is for XP Pro only with Service Pack 1. But SP2 aught to be the same.

Also while in the properties page of the keyboard and mouse, click the driver tab and driver details button. Or wherever it is. The 102 standard keyboard should only have those two files. The USB keyboard will have another 1 or 2 files.

Note that I've done this crap before, and it almost always ends in a repair install and/or reload. So you may be in for the long haul unless you just backup your data and reload it. And be done. The problem with a problem like this is that if you did try a repair install, XP will use the same drivers anyway, and so by the time it starts asking you questions, you won't be able to type, and then you're really stuck! So I would try these last couple things, then perhaps start planning on reloading it.

O.K. i checked up and yes it was those two files that i had already copied. so i guess that wont fix it.

i havent been home today so havent gotten a chance to look up that stuff.

btw the end of your post wasnt too clear to me, sorry. are you suggesting reinstalling windows ? which im starting to suspect may be necessary too btw. i havent fully ruled out fixing this problem but it IS getting harder and harder. now if i DO reinstall windows i believe everythinn gets erased. in which case if i disconnect my secondary hard disk that will retain its data right? when i connect it back will i be able to do so or will there by any problems?

Note that I've done this crap before, and it almost always ends in a repair install and/or reload. So you may be in for the long haul unless you just backup your data and reload it. And be done. The problem with a problem like this is that if you did try a repair install, XP will use the same drivers anyway, and so by the time it starts asking you questions, you won't be able to type, and then you're really stuck! So I would try these last couple things, then perhaps start planning on reloading it.

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what exactly are you talking about here? what crap have you done before?

I've seen this problem probably half a dozen times personally. More often then not it was a bad ps/2 port. But for the other ones, only a reload could fix it. Because somehow the HAL or something else screwed up the resources and is not handling things right.

Yes I'm talking about a FULL reload, meaning partition and format the driver and reinstall Windows.
You can disconnect your data drive if you like, but you just need to format the right drive and you'll be fine. But unplug to be safe.
Without keyboard access, the solutions become really hard, such as writing batch files and registry scripts on another pc to transfer over etc...

I'm out of ideas, I'd say backup your data and reload. That is, if you know how to do it, and can keep your important files safe. If you can load your drivers and do all your updates when done.

Yes I'm talking about a FULL reload, meaning partition and format the driver and reinstall Windows.
You can disconnect your data drive if you like, but you just need to format the right drive and you'll be fine. But unplug to be safe.
Without keyboard access, the solutions become really hard, such as writing batch files and registry scripts on another pc to transfer over etc...

I'm out of ideas, I'd say backup your data and reload. That is, if you know how to do it, and can keep your important files safe. If you can load your drivers and do all your updates when done.

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I'm not quite sure what a reload is? Will re-installing Win XP not do the trick?

re-install and reload are the same thing. By 'reload' I mean reload Windows, re-install, whatever. But the point is you want to format when you reinstall. But this will destroy all data on the formatted partition.

If this seems like overkill, you could always take it to a local repair shop and see what they can do. As I've had to do for this problem, it can get pretty advanced. Just downright nerdy at times. Because without a keyboard, you have to try to automate the fixes, requiring another PC to setup batch files and registry scripts and so forth. A really big pain.

Otherwise, if you've checked the BIOS, checked resources, know the ports aren't bad, tried other kbs and mice, replaced the driver files, tried USB devices instead. And none of that works out an adequate solution, then a reload is the next step. Just be careful with your data, make sure it's safe. Or take it to a shop to reload or repair it. Anyways, cause I'm out of ideas.